During
the Preparatory Youth Meeting which was held on 2-3 July 2000 in Berlin with the
partnership of Youth Initiative, Foundation
for the Rights of Future Generations and The Secretariat of Youth for Habitat
International Network, young people from all of the continents came together
before the actual youth forum of URBAN21. The outcomes of the pre-meeting and the youth forum are as
follows:

Definition
of a sustainable urban development:

One
of the issues was to find a common sense of our understanding of “sustainable
urban development”. Our revised definition is based on the Brutland’s
definition:

"Improving
the quality of life in a city, including ecological, cultural, political,
institutional, social and economic components without leaving a burden on the
future generations. A burden which is the result of a reduced natural capital
and an excessive local debt. The flow principle, that is based
on an equilibrium of material and engery and also financial input/output,
plays a crucial role in all future decisions upon the development of urban
areas."

Youth
Participation

The
second issue with regards to sustainable urban development was youth
participation in decision making processes. The questions of “Why and how?”
participate were deliberated:

Why
participation?

1.because youth has the energy to mobilize Annanthe related groups with a
vision of good governance,

2.because young people are the ones who best know what their requirements
are,

3.because young people will be the ones dwelling in the cities of the
future,

How
participation?

1.through local participatory mechanisms, such as youth councils or youth
parliaments,

2.with the creation of space for young people, especially by bringing
together diverse groups,

3.by revitalizing the related provisions of the Habitat Agenda and Agenda
21, bearing in mind the progress achieved by youth on the way to Istanbul+5.

We
do not only demand participation,but
also want to show with the following suggestions that we are able to make
contributions.

Education,
education, education

One
of the most important outcomes of the youth forum is that education for
sustainable (urban) development is crucial. Special attention should be paid
to young women.

Improving living conditions in
urban areas

The
first part of our definition is about the improvement of the living conditions
of the present generations. The following recommendations are the outcomes:

Raising awareness about not
leaving ecological footprints for the future generations.

Providing more opportunities
for education of young women, such as on family planning.

Creating common platforms
for interactions with the seniors.

New
future ethics: implementation of sustainability principles

The second part of our definition includes: ´Not
living at the expense of the future generations.´

For
this aim we suggest:

-to use economic instruments/incentives for reducing the material and
energy input as well as for reducing or to abandon the emission of harmful
substances into the environment,

-to revise the existing (local) taxes in view of the effects on the
environment and also consider this while implementing new ones, such as the
suggested “property tax with market value”, which supports suburbanisation
processes and therefore should include ecological components.

-to create tax incentives for environmental friendly behaviour,

-to lower the local debt to zero, by reducing consumption expenses,
fostering environmentally compatible investments and improving the existing
infrastructure.